Podocyte as the link between sterile inflammation and diabetic kidney disease.

Shahzad et al. examined the underlying mechanisms of sterile inflammation in diabetic kidney disease, specifically the role of NLRP3 inflammasome activation in podocytes. Using mouse models with gain-of-function and loss-of-function mutations in podocyte Nlrp3, or caspase-1 loss-of-function mutations in podocytes, they identified that Nlrp3 activation in these cells is central for development of diabetic kidney disease but not solely dependent on canonical mechanisms and caspase-1. These findings position podocyte-mediated immune cell-like functions as potential therapeutic targets for diabetic kidney disease.